WS Tell us
about the celebrity bake-off you’re doing for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.

PF I love cookies and I hate cancer. So Joan Cusack, Jayma Mays, and I
are doing an Internet bake sale for pediatric-cancer research. We’re seeing
which of us can raise the most money.

WS What’s your secret to making
great cookies?

PF They’re made with love—that’s always the first
ingredient—but if I told you the whole recipe I’d have to kill you. Actually, I
don’t usually bake cookies at home. My secret is that they’re store-bought, and
I hide the package and put them on a tray and pretend that I made them.

WS Did your mother teach you anything about cooking?

PF I make
good pasta and vodka sauce. That was her specialty. When she was 60, I made a
book with all of her recipes. She thought I was cooking all the time because I’d
call her for a new recipe every day. Then I gave her the original and sent
copies to other family members.